Product Description

A plain-English guide to teaching phonics. Every parent can teach reading—no experts need apply!

Too many parents watch their children struggle with early reading skills—and don't know how to help. Phonics programs are too often complicated, overpriced, gimmicky, and filled with obscure educationalese. The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading cuts through the confusion, giving parents a simple, direct, scripted guide to teaching reading—from short vowels through supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. This one book supplies parents with all the tools they need.

Over the years of her teaching career, Jessie Wise has seen good reading instruction fall prey to trendy philosophies and political infighting. Now she has teamed with dynamic coauthor Sara Buffington to supply parents with a clear, direct phonics program—a program that gives them the know-how and confidence to take matters into their own hands.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33218 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

About the Author
Jessie Wise has decades of experience as a classroom teacher, elementary school principal, private tutor, and educational consultant. She is the co-author of the best-selling The Well-Trained Mind and the groundbreaking elementary grammar text First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind. Sara Buffington is a teacher, writer, and children's book editor.

Customer Reviews

Happy Homeschooling Mom
After recently reading The Well-Trained Mind, I immediately checked this book out from the library which was suggested for teaching your child to read. Once reviewing the book I ordered it from Amazon. I am homeschooling my 5 year old son. I am a certified teacher, but at times feel inadequate about teaching my own child. This book provides a strong, systematic phonics approach to teaching reading. A must have for anyone wanting to teach their child to read.

fantastic resource
If you love reading, you know how valuable literacy is for children. We read stories as a family with our children, ages 3 1/2 & 5. We also enjoy trips to the library and finding new books together. I've watched them grow to love books, and naturally begin to develop language & reading readiness in these early years.

I'm a public school parent, not a homeschooler, but I believed that my kids would love reading if they knew how to do it. So, I invested in this book, and have been very pleased. I wasn't sure how to teach them to read, and wanted to keep enjoying life together without a lot of pressure to teach & learn. The Ordinary Parent's Guide is a great resource for several reasons.

1) it recognizes that most parents don't think of themselves as reading/literacy teachers. It is encouraging, informative, and realistic. I appreciate all of the tips to "if ____ isn't happening, put it away for _____ months and then try again."

2) it is laid out so that you can spend 10 minutes a day without setting up a "classroom" and "homeschooling" your little ones. It uses simple poems, songs, and memory games to make the process fun for everyone. It also uses very inexpensive tools, like index cards, to help teach (no computer games or fancy book series needed).

3) The author understands the value of knowing how to read & the need for kids to love learning. Her lessons help them progress quickly, so they can have early success & build confidence.

4) The exercises work. My older child was already starting to pick up on words, phonics, and sentences in concept, and these exercises helped me give him the tools to take off. He's reading nicely, and soaks up all of the phonics rules like a sponge. My younger child didn't recognize all of the letters yet, though he could sing the A-B-C's. By a couple months in, he knows the letters, but understands the role of vowels & can sound out a few words as he sees them.

It's worth picking up as a resource, or a day-by-day guide of literacy activities at home.

Great book
This book came highly recommended, and it has lived up to all the praise. My four year old picked up on the short vowel sounds (first five lessons) very quickly, thanks to her techniques. Great teaching guide.